Canopy with detachable awning

ABSTRACT

A tent, such as a collapsible canopy, having removable awning structures. In some embodiments, the awning structure includes a detachable connection member, an awning tube coupled to the connection member and an awning fabric or other suitable awning body. The awning cloth can be fixed on the awning tube, such as extending between a pair of awning tubes. When the intensity or direction of the outdoor environment light/precipitation changes, the removable awning structures may be deployed as desired to increase or adjust the shade area according in the desired direction to flexibly meet shade or storm requirements.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a partof the present disclosure.

BACKGROUND Field

The embodiments relate to a tent, canopy or other structure and,specifically, to a removable awning arrangement for such a tent, canopyor other structure.

Description of the Related Art

Tents or canopies, such as collapsible canopies, are often used in toprovide shade or rain protection outdoors. In existing canopies, a smallamount of height adjustment of the roof of the tent structure isprovided by height adjustment of the support legs. Users can adjust theindividual support legs to different heights to achieve an angledposition of the roof of the tent structure to address sun, wind or rainthat is directed at an angle and not sufficiently blocked by ahorizontal orientation of the roof structure. However, such adjustmentis typically quite limited and results in reduced overhead clearancewithin at least portions of the interior of the canopy. In addition, thetent roof size remains fixed.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods and devices described herein have innovativeaspects, no single one of which is indispensable or solely responsiblefor their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of theclaims, some of the advantageous features will now be summarized.

One or more embodiments provide a flexible adjustment of shade or rainprotection, referred to herein as coverage. To address this purpose, thecanopy includes a detachable awning and, in particular, detachableawning support structures. The canopy generally includes a roof andseveral support legs. The canopy also includes a removable awningstructure, which includes removable awning connectors, tubes and awningcloth or other material. The awning connectors are connected torespective tube members and the awning connectors are detachablyconnectable to respective support legs of the canopy.

An embodiment involves a canopy having a detachable awning structure,said canopy comprises a roof and legs, characterized in that the canopyfurther comprises a detachable awning structure, said detachable awningstructure comprising an awning-connecting member, an awning tube and anawning cloth or other suitable body, wherein said awning cloth is fixedon said awning tube, said awning tube being connected with saidawning-connecting member, and said awning-connecting member beingdetachably connected to said leg.

In some configurations, said awning-connecting member comprises a leggroove and an awning tube groove; after being assembled, said awningtube being fitted to said awning tube groove and said leg groove beingfitted tightly to said leg, so that said detachable awning structure isfixed to said leg. Said awning tube can be connected to saidawning-connecting member by a rotating pin inserted into a fixing holeon said awning tube groove, and said awning tube being able to berotated about the axis of said fixing hole relative to saidawning-connecting member. A retention surface and a sloped entry surfacecan be provided at the upper portion of said awning tube groove of theawning-connecting member, said sloped entry surface helping said awningtube to slide downwards into said awning tube groove and said retentionsurface inhibiting or preventing the awning tube within the awning tubegroove from moving out of said awning tube groove, so that said awningtube is retained in the awning tube groove in response to normal orexpected forces. The cross sectional dimensions of the part of said leggroove that contacts said leg can be smaller than the cross sectionaldimensions of said leg, so that said awning-connecting member is able totightly clamp said leg without sliding downwards in response to normalor expected forces.

In some configurations, said awning tube is fixedly connected to saidawning tube groove of the awning-connecting member by a fixing pin thatis inserted into a fixing hole on the awning tube groove. Saidawning-connecting member can be provided with an upper frame and a lowerframe with flexibility that define said leg groove, and when installing,said frames being pulled open to make said awning-connecting memberclamp on said leg, thus said awning-connecting member will be stablyfixed on said leg due to flexibility of said frames. A tube plug can beprovided at the end of said awning tube installed in the awning tubegroove of the awning-connecting member, wherein a spring and a buttonare provided between said tube plug and bottom of said awning tubegroove, a button hole being provided at the bottom of the awning tubegroove, the wall of the leg that is installed in the leg groove pressingsaid spring and abut against said button, so that the wall of said legtightly contacts with said frames ensuring that said awning-connectingmember is fixed at a specific height of the leg without slipping off.

In some configurations, said awning-connecting member is made of elasticor resilient material.

In some configurations, said detachable awning structure(s) is(are)installed at any one or more sides of said canopy.

In some configurations, one or two sides of said canopy each is providedwith two detachable awning structures, wherein the two detachable awningstructures are fixedly installed at different heights of said legs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will becomemore fully apparent from the following description and appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding thatthese drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope, thedisclosure will be described with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a top perspective view of a canopy equipped with fourdetachable awning structures having certain features, aspects andadvantages of an embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a top perspective view of the canopy with three detachableawning structures.

FIG. 1C is a top perspective view of the canopy with two detachableawning structures positioned on opposite sides of the canopy.

FIG. 1D is a top perspective view of the canopy with one detachableawning structure on one side of the canopy.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a connectingmember for detachably connecting an awning support member to a supportleg of the canopy.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the connecting member of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the connecting member of FIG. 2 takenalong line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an assembly of the connecting memberdetachably coupling an awning support tube to a canopy support leg.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the assembly of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view a second embodiment of a connecting memberfor detachably connecting an awning support member to a support leg of acanopy.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an assembly of the connecting member ofFIG. 8 detachably coupling an awning support member to a support leg ofa canopy.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the assembly of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of FIG. 9 taken alongline 11-11 in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an arrangement in which one side of acanopy is provided with two overhangs or awning arrangements staggeredin height from another.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of systems, components and methods of assembly andmanufacture will now be described with reference to the accompanyingfigures, wherein like numerals refer to like or similar elementsthroughout. Although several embodiments, examples and illustrations aredisclosed below, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in theart that the inventions described herein extends beyond the specificallydisclosed embodiments, examples and illustrations, and can include otheruses of the inventions and obvious modifications and equivalentsthereof. The terminology used in the description presented herein is notintended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner simplybecause it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description ofcertain specific embodiments of the inventions. In addition, embodimentsof the inventions can comprise several novel features and no singlefeature is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or isessential to practicing the inventions herein described.

Certain terminology may be used in the following description for thepurpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. Forexample, terms such as “above” and “below” refer to directions in thedrawings to which reference is made. Terms such as “front,” “back,”“left,” “right,” “rear,” and “side” describe the orientation and/orlocation of portions of the components or elements within a consistentbut arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to thetext and the associated drawings describing the components or elementsunder discussion. Moreover, terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,”and so on may be used to describe separate components. Such terminologymay include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof,and words of similar import.

FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate perspective views of a tent or canopy 100, whichcan be a collapsible canopy, incorporating one or more detachable awningarrangements, each of which can be referred to herein as an overhang101. As shown, the tent 100 includes a roof 1, one or more support legsor pipes 2 (which may be height adjustable—e.g., telescoping) and one ormore detachable awnings or overhangs 101. The detachable awnings oroverhangs 101 disclosed herein are detachable without the use of tools.Preferably, the awnings or overhangs 101 can be quickly and convenientlyassembled to the associated tent 100 without the use of tools. In theillustrated configurations, the resiliency of the couplings orconnection members produces at least a portion of a retention force forthe detachable awnings or overhangs 101. Additional coupling members orarrangements can provide additional retention force. The tent 100 can bea collapsible or folding canopy having a foldable frame and a cover,such as those sold under the trademark EZ-UP. One example of acollapsible canopy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,483, the entiretyof which is incorporated by reference herein. The awning arrangement 101generally comprises one or more awning supports, such as a pair ofawning support tubes 5, awning fabric or an awning body 3 of anothermaterial and detachable connections 4, 4′ coupled to respective awningsupport tubes 5. When assembled, the detachable connections 4, 4′ aremounted on respective support legs 2 of the canopy 100 and support theawning support tubes 5 relative to the canopy support legs 2, therebypermitting quick and removable installation of the overhang 101 on thecanopy 100. The awning body 3 can be permanently coupled to the awningsupport tubes 5 or, in some configurations, the awning body 3 can bepositioned on the awning support tubes 5 (e.g., slid onto) after theawning support tubes 5 are attached to the canopy support legs 2. FIGS.1A-ID shows only four possible mounting arrangements of the overhangstructure scheme. In fact, the overhang structure 101 may be mounted onany side of the tent 100 and at any height based on the actual needs inorder to achieve desired side shade or side rain protection, forexample.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the connectingmember 4 separate from the canopy 100. As shown, the awning connector 4includes a leg opening 8 that removably and securably receives a supportleg 2 of the canopy 100. The awning connector 4 also includes an awningsupport tube opening or groove 7 that selectively receives the awningsupport tube 5. At least one or a pair of fixing holes 6 rotatablysupports the awning support tube 5, such as via a shaft, pin orfastener. Rotation of the awning support tube 5 about the rotation pin(not shown) or other support member inserted into the holes 6 allows theawning 101 to be assembled to the support leg 2 of the canopy andselectively secured in place. In some configurations, the awning 101 canbe moved between two positions, such as a raised and lowered position,for example.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the overhang connector member 4 and FIG. 4 isa cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3. The connectingmember 4 preferably has retention surface 10 at an open or upper end ofthe groove 7 to inhibit unintentional or undesirable removal of theawning support tube 5 from the groove 7. The entry or mouth of thegroove preferably defines a sloped entry surface 9, which facilitatesentry of the awning support tube 5 into the groove 7. The bottom surfaceof the groove 7 is angled or offset from the horizontal plane (or aplane perpendicular to an axis of the leg opening 8) by an angle suchthat when the awning support tube 5 is installed, the awning 101 isinclined towards the ground in a direction away from the outer edge ofthe roof 1. Preferably, the angle is between about 2-150, about 2-10° orabout 40° If desired, the bottom surface of the groove 7 can be arrangedin the horizontal plane (or the plane perpendicular to an axis of theleg opening 8), and thus the tube 5 and the awning 101 when installedcan be parallel to the ground.

In one or more configurations, during the installation of the overhang101 to the tent structure 100, each side of the cloth or other overhangbody 3 is fixed to an awning tube 5. The connecting members 4 areconnected to the support legs 2 of the tent 100 by inserting the leg 2into the leg opening 8. Then, the awning support tube 5 is rotated intothe groove 7 through the entry surface 9 of the mouth and is retained inplace by the retention surface 10. In such a position, the awningsupport tube 5 preferably contacts the leg tube 2 and tightly jams theleg tube 2 in the opening 8 and against the connecting member 4 so thatthe overhang tube 5 is fixedly coupled to the tent leg tube 2. In someconfigurations, the overhang tubes 5 are connected to the leg tubes 2and then the awning member 3 is assembled to the two adjacent tubes 5 sothat the overhanging awning cloth or body 3 is attached the outer edgeof the roof 1 in order to achieve a good supplement shading or rainprotection.

Preferably, to facilitate the awning connection member 4 being fixedlyconnectable to the tent leg tube 2, a material having elasticity isutilized in constructing the awning connecting member 4 such that thegroove 8 can have a relaxed or normal size that is slightly smaller thanthe cross section of leg tube 2. That is, in at least someconfigurations, the leg opening dimension (a) of the groove 8 isslightly smaller than the width of a leg tube 2 corresponding to thewidth (a) of the opening so that the awning has a resilient member 4that can snap tightly to the leg tube 2 and be removably connectedthereto without slipping on leg tube 2 in response to normal or expectedforces. The resilient or elastic material can also enhance frictionalengagement with the leg tube 2. Other suitable structural features canbe employed that permit the overhang 101 leg connecting member 4 to bedetachably, semi-permanently or permanently connected to the leg tube 2.

FIG. 5 is an assembly including the awning connecting member 4 shown inFIGS. 2-4 coupled to a tent support leg 2 and supporting an awningsupport tube 5. FIG. 6 is a side view of the assembly of FIG. 5. FIG. 7is a top view of the assembly of FIG. 5. In the illustrated assembly,the awning support tube 5 is securely connected to the tent support leg2 (e.g., such that it does not move on the leg 2 in response to normalor expected operational forces) and is slightly inclined in a downwarddirection from the inner to the outer edge of the awning 101. To removethe awning 101, the awning support tube 5 can be simply rotated upwardsand moved out of registration with the leg opening 8 such that theconnecting member 4 can be removed from the tent support leg 2. In theillustrated arrangement, the connecting member 4 is positioned on orsurrounds three sides and the awning support tube 5 is positioned on orsurrounds the fourth side.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the connector 4′,which is a modification of the connector 4 of FIGS. 2-7. Similar to theprior embodiment, the connector 4′ includes a leg opening 8′, awningsupport tube duct 7′ and awning support tube fixing holes 6′.Preferably, the awning support tube 5 is received in the duct 7′ and isattached to the connector 4′ by a fixing pin (not shown) or othersuitable fastener received within the tube fixing holes 6′. Preferably,the awning connecting member 4′ is constructed of an at least somewhatelastic or resilient material, such as a relatively flexible plasticmaterial, for example.

The awning connecting member 4′ can be mounted to the leg tube 2 viaupper and lower connection arms 14 that cooperate to receive and engagethe leg tube 2. Preferably, the upper and lower connection arms 14 candeflect to permit engagement of the connecting member 4′ with the tentleg tube 2 and then resiliently return toward a relaxed position and/ortoward restoration of the original shape to engage the leg tube 2. Insome configurations, a space between the arms 14 allows entry of the legtube 2 into the leg opening 8′ when the connecting member 4′ is rotatedto a particular angle and, once the leg tube 2 is located within the legopening 8′, the connecting member 4′ can be rotated to cause the arms 14to flex outwardly and then resiliently return to engage the leg tube 2.Each of the arms 14 can be located on or wrap a portion or all of threesides of the leg tube 2. Each of the arms 14 can include a hook end thatengages the fourth side of the leg tube 2. Preferably, the hook endwraps only partially around the fourth side of the leg tube 2. In theillustrated arrangement, the arms 14 mirror each other such that thehook ends engage different (e.g., opposite) sides of the leg tube 2.

With reference to FIG. 11, preferably the end of the awning support tube5 includes an end surface, which can be defined by an end plug 13 orother suitable structure. In addition, preferably, the connector 4′includes a spring 12 acting between the end plug 13 and an engagementmember 11, which can contact the leg tube 2 via the biasing force of thespring 12 to inhibit or further inhibit movement of the connectingmember 4′ relative to the leg tube 2. In some arrangements, theengagement member 11 can engage empty adjustment openings 21 of the legtube 2. Accordingly, after installing the awning leg 5 to the leg tubestructure 2, the compression spring 12 urges the engagement member 11into the adjustment opening or hole 21 to squeeze the leg tube 2 therebyfurther ensuring that the awning connector 4′ is fixed on the leg tube 2at a specific height without slippage. The engagement member 11 couldalso be configured to frictionally engage the leg tube 2 and couldcomprise or be constructed of a rubber, rubber-like or othergrip-enhancing material.

FIG. 12 illustrates one awning 101 coupled to the tent 100 withconnectors 4 (the upper awning 101) and a second awning 101 coupled tothe tent 100 with the connectors 4′ (the lower awning 101) engagingempty adjustment openings 21 of the leg tubes 2. The second awning 101is positioned below the first awning 101. When the solar elevation angleis small, this installation method further provides better shadingeffect. For example, some smaller pets can avoid sunlight under thelower position of the awning.

CONCLUSION

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the herein-described embodiments, the elements of which are tobe understood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.Moreover, any of the steps described herein can be performedsimultaneously or in an order different from the steps as orderedherein. Moreover, as should be apparent, the features and attributes ofthe specific embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in differentways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orstates. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment.

Moreover, the following terminology may have been used herein. Thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to anitem includes reference to one or more items. The term “ones” refers toone, two, or more, and generally applies to the selection of some or allof a quantity. The term “plurality” refers to two or more of an item.The term “about” or “approximately” means that quantities, dimensions,sizes, formulations, parameters, shapes and other characteristics neednot be exact, but may be approximated and/or larger or smaller, asdesired, reflecting acceptable tolerances, conversion factors, roundingoff, measurement error and the like and other factors known to those ofskill in the art. The term “substantially” means that the recitedcharacteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, butthat deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances,measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factorsknown to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do notpreclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

Numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format.It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely forconvenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly toinclude not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limitsof the range, but also interpreted to include all of the individualnumerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if eachnumerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration,a numerical range of “about 1 to 5” should be interpreted to include notonly the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but shouldalso be interpreted to also include individual values and sub-rangeswithin the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range areindividual values such as 2, 3 and 4 and sub-ranges such as “about 1 toabout 3,” “about 2 to about 4” and “about 3 to about 5,” “1 to 3,” “2 to4,” “3 to 5,” etc. This same principle applies to ranges reciting onlyone numerical value (e.g., “greater than about 1”) and should applyregardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics beingdescribed. A plurality of items may be presented in a common list forconvenience. However, these lists should be construed as though eachmember of the list is individually identified as a separate and uniquemember. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as ade facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based ontheir presentation in a common group without indications to thecontrary. Furthermore, where the terms “and” and “or” are used inconjunction with a list of items, they are to be interpreted broadly, inthat any one or more of the listed items may be used alone or incombination with other listed items. The term “alternatively” refers toselection of one of two or more alternatives, and is not intended tolimit the selection to only those listed alternatives or to only one ofthe listed alternatives at a time, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise.

1. A canopy having a detachable awning structure comprising: a roof; aplurality of legs that support the roof at an elevated position from asurface upon which the canopy rests; a detachable awning structure, saiddetachable awning structure comprising an awning-connecting member, anawning tube and an awning body, wherein said awning body is supported bysaid awning tube, wherein said awning tube is connected to one of saidplurality of legs by said awning-connecting member, and wherein saidawning-connecting member is detachable from said one leg. 2-11.(canceled)